A Russian film company will produce a feature-length documentary about President Vladimir Putin in the lead up to the March 2018 elections, the television channel Dozhd reported on Thursday, citing anonymous sources.
The RBC news outlet later confirmed the reports of the documentary, due to broadcast on a state-run television channel, citing a source close to the Kremlin.
The documentary, which will reportedly center around interviews with the president, follows the release in June of another documentary film, “The Putin Interviews,” produced by U.S. movie director Oliver Stone.
Filmed with Putin between July 2015 and February 2017, the eight-hour documentary broadcast in Russia on the state-run Channel One. The documentary drew heavy criticism from many Western media outlets who accused Stone of adopting an uncritical interviewing style towards the Russian president.
The Dozhd report said Channel One presenter Vladimir Solovyov would play the role of interviewer in the home-made film on Putin. Solovyov, however, denied the report in comments to RBC.
Russian director Saida Medvedeva, whose company is reportedly responsible for the new project, told Dozhd that the film is still "just an idea" and that filming had not started.
Medvedeva filmed a similar full-length documentary, “The President,” two years ago to mark 15 years of Putin’s years in power.
Unlike “The President” and Oliver Stone’s “The Putin Interviews,” however, the new documentary is expected to focus on Putin’s reelection campaign, the source close to the Kremlin told RBC.
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